How to Sell to Chinese Buyers: An Honest, Research-Backed Guide to Marketing in China Through Your Website

Let us start with the uncomfortable part. A Western website, hosted abroad and optimised for Google, will reach very few people in mainland China. Google search has been largely unavailable there for years, Freedom House scores China 9 out of 100 for internet freedom, and most buying happens inside Chinese platforms rather than on independent websites.

That does not mean your website is useless. It means its job changes. For many foreign businesses, the website becomes the place where a Chinese partner, distributor, importer or corporate buyer checks you out after meeting you somewhere else. For others, it becomes a Chinese-hosted, ICP-filed site that can rank on Baidu. This guide explains both routes, what the law requires, and how to write copy that earns a first conversation.

If you sell into the UK or US, our guides on selling to the British and selling to Americans are useful comparisons. Almost every assumption from those markets needs re-checking here.

Chinese business culture, translated for your website

Hofstede’s model scores countries from 0 to 100 on six dimensions. These are national averages, so they describe tendencies, not every buyer. Here is mainland China next to the UK and US.

Source: The Culture Factor country comparison tool.

Relationships first, transactions second

The Culture Factor’s notes on China highlight “guanxi”, the network of personal relationships and mutual obligations that business often runs on. Its scores also reflect how strongly people avoid causing a loss of face, for themselves or others.

For your website: a cold “Buy now” rarely starts a relationship. A short introductory call, a downloadable overview a buyer can forward to a colleague, or a WeChat contact option all give the relationship somewhere to start. Never write copy that could embarrass a buyer for having chosen a competitor.

High power distance: show who stands behind you

With a score of 80, China is far more accepting of hierarchy than the UK (35) or the US (40). In practice, buyers want to see the senior people involved and any official recognition you hold.

For your website: name your leadership team, show formal partnerships, and list any certifications relevant to China. If you have a registered Chinese entity or an authorised partner, say so clearly.

Low uncertainty avoidance: openness to new tools, fast

China’s score of 30 means new things are often tried quickly. A real example: QuestMobile’s September 2026 data shows the AI app Doubao reached 419 million monthly active users, and QuestMobile reports that search-app use per person has fallen sharply as AI assistants take over some of the job of search.

For your website (and beyond): buyers may first meet you in an AI answer or a short video, not a search result. Pragmatic, clear facts about what you offer travel better than long brand stories.

Restraint and the ban on superlatives

China scores just 24 on indulgence, and its law reinforces a factual style. A real example: Article 9 of China’s Advertising Law bans terms such as “national-level”, “highest-level” and “best” in advertising. A UK habit like “the best agency in Europe” is not only weak here, it can be unlawful.

For your website: use measurable facts, such as years in business, client sectors and specific outcomes, instead of rankings or “number one” language.

How people search and buy in China

Search engines

StatCounter’s September 2026 figures for China show Baidu on 46.85%, Bing on 21.61%, Yandex on 15.01%, Haosou on 12.22%, Sogou on 2.57% and Google on just 1.45%. StatCounter counts traffic only from sites carrying its tracking code, which skews towards certain kinds of site, so the exact numbers are less reliable here than in most countries. The direction is not in doubt: Baidu leads, and Google is a minor player.

Baidu SEO, hosting and the ICP licence China requires

If you want your website itself to reach people in mainland China, you will usually need:

• Mainland hosting. In our experience, sites hosted outside mainland China can load slowly or unreliably for visitors inside it.
• An ICP filing. According to Alibaba Cloud’s ICP documentation, a website that resolves to a server in mainland China needs an ICP filing before it goes live. Sites carrying out certain commercial internet services also need a value-added telecommunications licence, often called a commercial ICP licence. Which you need depends on what the site does, so get advice.
• A local entity or partner. Ask your hosting provider and adviser who is able to hold the filing for your site. Think carefully about whose name it sits in, because that matters if a partnership ends.
• Simplified Chinese content written for Baidu. Baidu SEO rewards clear, native Simplified Chinese pages that load fast in China.

If none of that is realistic yet, keep your global site and make it a strong “checking-out” site for partners, as described below.

AI assistants

ChatGPT is not on OpenAI’s list of supported countries and territories for mainland China. People in China use domestic AI assistants instead. QuestMobile’s September 2026 ranking of AI-native apps by monthly active users puts Doubao on 419 million, Qwen on 158 million, DeepSeek on 123 million and Tencent’s Yuanbao on 37.33 million. QuestMobile’s analysis also looks at how assistants such as Kimi and Baidu’s ERNIE (Wenxin) choose what to cite.

What it means for your website: the AI tools Chinese buyers use read Chinese-language sources. If there is no clear, trustworthy information about you in Chinese anywhere, you are unlikely to appear in their answers.

WeChat marketing, Douyin and Xiaohongshu marketing

• WeChat (Weixin): Tencent reported 1,439 million combined monthly active users for Weixin and WeChat in Q2 2026. For B2B and services, an official WeChat account is often the “website inside the app” that buyers use to check you out and message you.
• Douyin: TikTok is not available in mainland China. Douyin is ByteDance’s separate Chinese app, with its own accounts, content and shopping.
• Taobao, Tmall and JD.com: the big marketplaces where many consumers compare and buy products.
• Xiaohongshu (RED): a lifestyle and product-review platform where many buyers research purchases before buying.

What it means for your website: your site is the anchor for all of this. Each platform profile should point to the same facts, the same company name and the same contact routes. In China, think of your website as the reference document, and the platforms as where the conversation happens.

Writing copy that earns a first conversation

• Lead with the benefit to the buyer’s organisation, not your story.
• Use facts, not superlatives. This is both culturally sensible and legally safer.
• Make sharing easy. A one-page PDF in Simplified Chinese that a buyer can forward to their manager suits decision-making that runs up a hierarchy.
• Offer a soft first step. “Request a 30-minute introduction. If it is not a fit, we will say so” is easier to accept than “Sign up today”.
• Be honest on price. In our experience, a clear explanation of what is and is not included wins more trust than a discount, especially with buyers who have seen inflated prices from foreign suppliers before.

No Chinese clients yet? Use the reference document approach

No local references does not mean no credibility. It means you borrow it carefully:

• Show work for multinational clients with operations in China, if you have permission.
• Explain your process in detail, with timelines.
• Name your local partner, if you have one, and what they do.
• Start with a pilot project with a clearly limited scope and price.

Prices, VAT and the law for foreign sellers

VAT: China’s new VAT Law took effect on 1 January 2026, keeping rates of 13%, 9% and 6%. Small-scale taxpayers pay a lower rate, which the Ministry of Finance has set at 1% for 2026 and 2027.

Price marking: the State Administration for Market Regulation’s price marking rules, in force since 1 July 2022, ban charging more than the marked price or adding fees that were not marked. If a delivery charge or service fee is unavoidable, it should be visible.

PIPL China and marketing consent: the Personal Information Protection Law applies to businesses outside China when they process personal information to offer products or services to people in China (Article 3). Such businesses must set up a dedicated office or appoint a representative in China (Article 53). The Advertising Law (Article 43) says electronic advertising must not be sent without the recipient’s consent or request, and must show the sender’s identity and a way to refuse future messages.

This is not legal advice. Take local advice before launching.

For service businesses

• Expect most B2B sales to start through a partner, an introduction, or WeChat, with the website as a credibility check.
• Publish a Simplified Chinese overview page with your services, sectors, team and how engagement works.
• State prices or price ranges, in yuan if you can, and whether VAT applies.

For product businesses

• Cross-border e-commerce retail imports have their own rules: a per-transaction limit of 5,000 yuan and an annual limit of 26,000 yuan per person, a 0% tariff within those limits, and import VAT and consumption tax charged at 70% of the normal amount.
• Many foreign brands sell through cross-border storefronts on Tmall or JD rather than their own site at first.
• Show all charges before payment, in line with the price marking rules.

Delivery to remote regions

China’s postal regulator has been pushing to reduce the extra cost of delivering to remote western regions. The State Post Bureau reported in May 2025 that the share of online purchases in Inner Mongolia without free shipping had fallen to 1.38%, and that consolidation hubs had cut shipping costs by nearly half. Taobao extended its “Xinjiang free shipping” programme to large furniture in April 2025.

For your website or store: buyers in Xinjiang, Tibet, Inner Mongolia and similar regions increasingly expect free or low-cost delivery. If you charge extra, say so clearly before checkout.

Landing page before and after

Simplified Chinese CTA example: 预约免费咨询 (“book a free consultation”).

China compared with the UK and US

FAQs

Can I just translate my website into Chinese? Translation helps partners and buyers who already know you. To reach new people in mainland China through search, you usually also need mainland hosting, an ICP filing and Baidu-focused content.

Is Baidu SEO like Google SEO? The basics are similar: clear content, good structure, fast pages. But Baidu has its own tools and favours sites that load well in China.

Do I need an ICP licence? Any site on a mainland server needs an ICP filing. Some commercial services also need a commercial licence. Get advice for your setup.

Does PIPL apply to me if I have no office in China? It can. If you process personal information to offer products or services to people in China, it applies, and you need a representative there.

Start smaller than you think

China rewards patience more than boldness. The businesses that do well online here usually start with a modest goal: a website that a Chinese partner can confidently forward to their boss, a WeChat account that answers questions, a pilot project with a clear price. Then they build.

If you are weighing up whether China is worth the effort for your business, and how much of it your website can actually do, we are happy to talk it through. Get in touch and we will give you a straight answer, even if that answer is “not yet”.

References

1. Marketplace. “Why China’s tariff reaction included an investigation into Google.” Marketplace, 2025. https://www.marketplace.org/story/2025/02/05/why-chinas-tariff-reaction-included-an-investigation-into-google
2. Freedom House. “China: Freedom on the Net 2025.” Freedom House, 2025. https://freedomhouse.org/country/china/freedom-net/2025
3. The Culture Factor. “Country Comparison Tool: China.” The Culture Factor Group. https://www.theculturefactor.com/country-comparison-tool?countries=china
4. StatCounter. “Search Engine Market Share China, September 2026.” StatCounter Global Stats, 2026. https://gs.statcounter.com/search-engine-market-share/all/china
5. QuestMobile. “AI-native app monthly active users, September 2026.” QuestMobile, 2026. https://www.questmobile.com.cn/research/report/2112396781593624578/
6. Sina Finance. “QuestMobile AI app rankings.” Sina, 2026. https://finance.sina.com.cn/stock/relnews/hk/2026-10-20/doc-inivvxct6517780.shtml
7. OpenAI. “ChatGPT Supported Countries.” OpenAI Help Center. https://help.openai.com/en/articles/7947663-chatgpt-supported-countries
8. Tencent. “Tencent Announces 2026 Second Quarter Results.” Tencent, 2026. https://www.tencent.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Tencent-Announces-2026-Second-Quarter-Results.pdf
9. CNN Business. “TikTok is owned by a Chinese company. So why doesn’t it exist there?” CNN, 2023. https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/24/tech/tiktok-douyin-bytedance-china-intl-hnk
10. Alibaba Cloud. “ICP filing requirements for a regular website.” Alibaba Cloud Help Center. https://www.alibabacloud.com/help/en/icp-filing/basic-icp-service/product-overview/icp-filing-requirements-for-a-regular-website
11. National People’s Congress. “Personal Information Protection Law of the People’s Republic of China.” NPC, 2021. http://en.npc.gov.cn.cdurl.cn/2021-12/29/c_694559_3.htm
12. App in China. “Advertising Law of the People’s Republic of China (amended 2021).” App in China. https://appinchina.co/government-documents/advertising-law-of-the-peoples-republic-of-china-amended-in-2021/
13. State Taxation Administration. “Value Added Tax Law of the People’s Republic of China.” Chinatax. https://fgk.chinatax.gov.cn/zcfgk/c100009/c5237365/content.html
14. Ministry of Finance. “Announcement on VAT for small-scale taxpayers.” MOF, 2026. https://www.mof.gov.cn/jrttts/202602/t20260203_3983175.htm
15. State Administration for Market Regulation. “Provisions on Prohibiting Price Frauds and Clearly Marking Prices.” Gov.cn, 2022. https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/2022-04/26/content_5728113.htm
16. Ministry of Finance and others. “Notice on cross-border e-commerce retail import tax policy.” Gov.cn, 2018. https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/2018-12/31/content_5440499.htm
17. State Post Bureau. “Remote area delivery and free shipping progress.” SPB, 2025. https://www.spb.gov.cn/gjyzj/c100015/c100016/202505/560d4235d66c459d90de878b9a697378.shtml

Kira KhoroshilovaFounder of Diary of an SEO and international SEO specialist since 2021. Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing. More about Kira